1/10/2012

Google overtakes Microsoft to become World Tech Giant No.2!

   We all know that the tech world is incredibly competitive and the big hitters come and go, we can look to people like RIM and Nokia for proof of that. But, at this moment in time Apple is the clear leader, being the most valuable company in the world, period. But, behind them and just in the tech sector we have you're everyday names; Google, Microsoft, IBM, AT&T and the list goes on.

   But, today we heard that Google now has over $249 billion in market cap which means they are now more valuable than Microsoft, which fell to around $248.8 billion today.

   While not important for much more than that, it does perhaps reflect where investors think technology is heading as the power of the internet continues to grow. But, Microsoft will remain an incredible powerful company for the foreseeable future irrespective of their market worth!

Barnes and Noble gives Nook Simple Touch GlowLight discounts!

   Most of you bookworms out there probably have an Amazon Kindle eReader by now. But, there might be a small portion of you who have opted for a Kobo, Sony or even a Barnes and Noble reader instead? If you fall into none of those categories and you're looking to purchase a new good quality one then B&N might have the answer for you!

   Barnes and Noble have chalked $20 off the price of the eReader, bringing it right into line with Amazon's Kindle at $119. 

   But, the company isn't happy with just a reduced price but the company has been explaining how the NOOK Simple Touch will actually be better value for money. They point out that their device includes an AC adapter, whereas Amazon only put a microUSB cable in the box for the Kindle Paperwhite. If you want a proper Amazon adaptor well that's $9.99 on top, but you don't need it, you could use any standard MicroUSB charger.

   There's also them pesky ads to consider. The Nook eReader won't have any, whereas Amazon's offering will, unless you chalk up another $20 to get rid of them too! So maybe you can have a second thought if you are looking for a shiny new eReader for Christmas.... It's not too early to be thinking about that is it?!?!

In other news:

• Nokia and Oracle have inked a deal which would see the latter integrate the formers Mapping solutions into their products, particularly for custom geo-location work in Enterprise servers!

• Sharp has announced they are beginning productions of 5" 1080p screens for upcoming smartphones!

• Samsung's Galaxy Note II is now officially on sale in the UK! And there's a drop test just below.

• Apple is facing an EU investigation after they have 'continually' ignored EU law. The company has been advertising their products with a 1 year warranty, when EU law stipulates that those sorts of products should have 2 years. The investigation will decide if Apple was intentionally trying to get customers to purchase AppleCare. If they're found guilty then there will be a lofty fine!

And finally, HP have unveiled their ElitePad 900. It's a stunning bit of kit that includes an Intel Clove Trail processor and 2GB of RAM inside a 1.5-pound brushed aluminum case! It's absolutely stunning. There's a picture and a video for you to marvel at below!

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01/06/2012

The future of Android.

 

   If we needed any confirmation that there is an imminent update to Android available the good folks at Pandora have all but confirmed it. The picture to the right is a screenshot of their app and one of the 'new features' is 'Campatibility support for an upcoming Android OS'. 

   

   On the one hand I'm excited to see this, but on the other I know it's going to be a long, long wait for updates for this version to hit my devices, my Sony Tablet S only got ICS yesterday!!!

   Aside from this forthcoming release the is also news from Google's Senior Vice President on Chrome and Applications had this to say about how Android and Chrome OS could draw together in future;    

“Android is extremely successful, we couldn’t be more proud of it. We have exciting steps ahead with tablets, too. There are many instances where people spend all of their time in the browser. 

The notion that, for the first time, your experience is in the cloud. You still run on a local device, CPU, SSD, etc. – but the notion that your computer is actually in the cloud enables zero administration. And from a web console, you can deploy and manage apps. There’s no installing software or anything like that.

I think what is important between Android and Chrome OS with users, is that it makes sense. Look at Apple, there’s MacBooks and iPhone, and they use different operating systems. Convergence will happen, sure. But look at Gmail – you go from a Chromebook to Android, and it just works.” – Pichai

In other news:

• HTC has revealed the Taiwanese and Chinese versions of the HTC One S and both are rocking a 1.7Ghz Dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor. This is the old version of the processor, ie the one in the HTC Sensation XE. But, on the plus side this does make both of these world phones!
• The new Lara Croft game has a trailer available and the gameplay looks decidedly more gritty than the past versions of the game.
• If you're into Space and Galaxies and things, Nasa has some intriguing news for you. Apparently they have predicted that our Galaxy and Andromeda are set to collide in approximately.... 4 billion years time. So no worries just yet!
• All in all Samsung has shifted 52million Galaxy S' and S2's (24+28million respectively). The Galaxy Note has sold pretty well too with 7million having been dispatched. That ladies and gentlemen is how you make money in the mobile industry!
• The judge in the Google vs Oracle case has ruled that API's are not copyrightable things, good work Google's lawyers!

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Breaking news!

Google wins the patent trial against Oracle!!

   The news this evening is that when Android developers chose to copy and paste Java code they have done so without violating any patents!

   This decision means that Google only have to compensate Oracle a negligible amount of money, a bit of a turnaround from Oracle's demands for $2.6 billion!!!

   Official lines explain how the jury did find that Android infringed Oracle copyrights by its use of the the structure, sequence, and organization of 37 Java APIs. But the jury was unable to reach a comprehensive verdict on whether it was covered under fair usage terms, making the verdict undecided at the moment. The jury did find that Google had infringed on one other copyright count , the use of nine lines of 'range Check' code, although the Judge later decided that Google had also infringed by its use of eight Java test files in Android, which added a second minor infringement count to Google's scorecard.

   All in all it seems Google has got off of a very, very large hook here. Their fines are expected to be well under $1million, but we can expect a retrial, this isn't quite the end of it yet.

Via TheVerge

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